Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Voluntariness
- The actus reus of a crime requires a guilty act
- This act must be voluntary
- Voluntary means "being free and deliberate actor"
- E.g Kennedy
- If I knowingly spray graffiti on a wall
- Criminal damage
- Some acts may not be voluntary
- This is when the D has no control over their actions
- This means they have not committed the actus reus
- illustrated in Hill v Baxter
- involuntary reaction to a
swarm of bees entering your
car is not voluntary
- Another example is in the case of
- Quick
- A defence of automatism is successfully raised
- This happened after the patient took
some insulin the patient blacked out & in
his state assaulted another patient
- He was not liable as he had not
committed a voluntary actus reus
- In absolute liability cases
- Winzar
- There is not a true voluntariness